


if i could dance with you again

by stormchasers



Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Dance, F/F, Renegades AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25266040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormchasers/pseuds/stormchasers
Summary: nova artino of anarchy ballet and danna bell of renegades dance company have been at each other's throats for years. when anarchy ballet falls apart after the death of its director, alec artino, nova goes to a coffee shop to mourn her career to find that the barista is none other than her long-time nemesis, danna bell. they trade insults, but nova leaves with a reminder of why she cannot stand danna... and a place in renegades dance company.
Relationships: Nova Artino | Nightmare & Adrian Everhart | Sketch, Nova Artino | Nightmare & Oscar Silva | Smokescreen, Nova Artino | Nightmare & Ruby Tucker | Red Assassin, Nova Artino | Nightmare/Danna Bell | Monarch, Ruby Tucker | Red Assassin/Narcissa Cronin
Comments: 14
Kudos: 19





	1. happiness is a butterfly

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! so here's a nobell au that's supposed to be over 30 chapters long and will probably not be finished. if you follow me on my [tumblr](https://nova-artino.tumblr.com) you've probably seen a little about it already. this was supposed to be for day two of nobell week but time is an illusion so here it is now.

Nova pulled the bobby pins out of her hair as she sat alone in the back of a taxi, trying not to cry. She never cried. 

Every part of her was exhausted. She stared at the lights of the city, watching them blur as she blinked back tears. Everything was broken. 

She glanced at her phone. Seven notifications. Honey wanted to know if she was going to the funeral. Leroy wanted to know if she was okay. 

She typed out a “no” to the first one and didn’t open the second. 

She had officially lost everything. 

Nova Artino was not unaccustomed to losing things. She had thought she lost everything when she was just a teenager. But even then she’d still had her uncle. And dance.

Now she didn’t have either.

She exhaled softly, leaning her head back against the taxi seat. In her mind, she replayed the events of the day, the same way she might go over the steps of a dance. She didn’t want to think about it, but it was hard to think of anything else. 

Alec Artino was dead. Her uncle was dead. The last bit of family she had—

Of course, their relationship had never been perfect. It had always been strained, between her anger at him not taking in her sister and his grief over his brother. She knew that he had seen David every time he looked at her, and that was the one thing he would never forgive her for. 

And, of course, there was dance. That had been the one thing that held their fragile relationship together, but also what caused the most conflict. 

She had thrown herself into dance because she thought it might make him happy. She’d always loved dance, of course— she started when she was three, back when her parents paid for her dance classes at the local studio. And while she probably would’ve become a professional dancer anyway, she’d made dance her only focus throughout the rest of high school after that terrible day her parents died. She’d endured the grueling lessons, the expectations, all the never being good enough— maybe it had helped, but maybe had it just made it worse. But it was also a way to honor her parents, and it was also something that Nova could never let go of.

While dance was something that her uncle always had control over, she’d made it her own. It was one of the few things she had control over, the only thing she allowed for herself. It was a heartbeat, and she didn’t think she could live without it.

But now it seemed like she might have to.

Surely it was enough to just lose her uncle. She had lost so many people in her life, and she had begged to just keep this one thing. Surely there wasn’t a need for her to be hurt beyond that.

She’d thought she could save it. Anarchy Ballet was a great company, and she had thought it could rise from the ashes again. But… everything was falling apart. They had lost their studio because of a legal issue, and now everyone was leaving. Ingrid had gotten out of there as fast as she could. Winston had left for not only a rival dance company, but _Renegades_ of all places. Ugh. Traitor.

Honey was still in her breakdown mode, but that was only a matter of time. Leroy had told her to get out of there and attach herself to another company as quickly as possible. And maybe he was right, but she hated it. Everything she had worked for… gone. Anarchy Ballet had made her. And who would want to work with an Artino?

Her name was well known, from Alec and her parents, and… herself. Someone would probably take her on. She was a good enough dancer. But Alec had angered enough people in the dance world to make that difficult. 

Whatever. She was Nova Artino, and she wasn’t a stranger to starting over. 

The taxi dropped her off at a local coffee shop, and she thanked the driver while making sure it didn’t look like she had been crying. What a joke her life had become.

The barista greeted her as she walked in, and Nova tried to appear friendly without having to smile. She soon abandoned her nice pretense the second she recognized who was standing in front of her.

 _Please don’t recognize me_ , Nova begged, though under normal circumstances she’d be itching for a fight. This was seriously the worst possible scenario ever. 

The barista’s face lit up and Nova knew she was done for. _Just let me die now_. “Nova Artino,” Danna Bell said with amusement, drawing out every syllable of her name. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Nova rolled her eyes. She was exhausted, and her tolerance for idiots had faded away a few years ago. She could not deal with Danna’s annoying inferiority complex right now. “Double espresso.”

She had first met Danna at a convention when they were fifteen, but that meeting was unimportant. They had been at each other’s throats for years now, all due to that one competition where, under an unfortunate case of bad luck, they had performed the same song. Danna had won. By one-tenth of a point. Needless to say, Nova was still bitter about it, but she thought she had quite made up for it in all the competitions she had won over the years. Of course, there was more to it than that, but Nova didn’t like thinking about that part. It didn’t matter, anyway. It just brought back bad memories. 

Ever since, they’d started a little rivalry that lasted after they graduated. Nova had danced with her and a couple other Renegades before in a short ballet they had collaborated in, and she had sent Ingrid _many_ texts complaining after each rehearsal.

Danna’s face softened a little. This was the most infuriating thing of all. Nova had never seen Danna’s face this gentle, since when they intercepted paths they were usually scowling at each other or performing. How dare this girl think she understood Nova? Pity. That was the emotion on Danna’s face, and Nova wanted to rake her nails down Danna’s cheek for it. 

“Are you okay?” Danna said softly.

Nova gripped her bracelet until it left a mark on her fingers, trying to stop herself before a certain annoying someone got murdered. “I’ll be better once I don’t have to talk to you, butterfly.” The insult flew out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop it. Antagonizing one of the rising stars of the dance world probably wasn’t a great idea right now, but it wasn’t as if this was anything new, and Danna deserved it. 

“Cute,” Danna said. “Did you take all week to think of that one? Not your best insult.” Still, Nova knew that it had struck a blow. Not the actual insult, but the nickname. _Butterfly_ . After what was probably Danna’s worst performance. _The Whims of the Butterfly_. 

“Oh, are we insulting each other now? Sorry, I was just saying that I think you should probably get going on that espresso before your boss finds out you’re chatting.”

“I think I’m actually doing fairly well here,” Danna said, but she started brewing the coffee anyway. “It’s not like you’re one to talk. I mean, your career’s basically done for, but you know that already. What a pity.”

“Speaking of bad insults, do you practice yours in the mirror? I mean, I don’t think you could do very well improvising, but we all know that improv’s not your strong suit. But clearly the practice doesn’t help much. I guess that’s a bit of a trend with you.”

Danna’s face tightened. “You’re just still salty about that competition… what, eight years ago? Get over it already. We’re not sixteen anymore, and yet, here you are, _still_ the same bitter, petty girl who thinks she can outdo people who are _light years_ ahead of her, and I’m still beating you. So close. Try again, maybe you can make up those technique points next time.”

Nova sighed. “Yeah, we’ve been over this before. Did you forget that I’ve won more competitions where we’ve gone head to head? And I became principal dancer before you did, which is a bit sad seeing how elite Anarchy is compared to your pathetic… Renegades.”

“Oh, do you want to talk about how elite Anarchy is?” Danna asked, tilting her head. “Isn’t that the same company that completely fell apart less than 24 hours after its director died? Your _uncle_?”

Nova flashed her a sickeningly sweet smile. “As if Renegades isn’t a flaming dumpster fire that has been falling apart since it was founded.”

“And yet somehow we’re still here,” Danna pointed out. “Whatever. I’m here to work, not to debate with someone who can’t let go of something that happened years ago. Here’s your coffee. Give me a tip?”

Nova looked at Danna’s outstretched hand in disdain. Danna shrugged. “Worth a try.”

“What do you even need this job for anyway? Does Renegades not pay you enough?”

Danna seemed unaffected by this. “Pointe shoes are expensive.”

Nova scowled and took the coffee cup. “Fine. If my career is over then at least I don’t have to deal with you anymore.”

Danna smiled cheerfully, handing her a business card.

“What’s this?” Nova asked, looking down at it in confusion.

“You do know how to read, don’t you? It’s a business card. For Hugh Everhart, also known as…”

“The director of Renegades Dance Company,” Nova finished. “I know. But why—”

Danna rolled her eyes. “You’re so dense, Artino. _Maybe_ instead of giving up on your career and sitting around moping you could give the other big dance company around here a call. And if you’re not a petulant brat, they might even hire you.”

Nova frowned, ripping the business card in half. “I don’t need your pity. And I’d rather die than join Renegades.”

Danna shrugged. “Your choice. Don’t blame me when it doesn’t work out for you. See you around! Or not, depending on how dead your career is. Maybe you’ll be a chorus girl someday.”

Nova took her coffee and got the hell out of that shop, resisting the urge to throw the hot coffee at Danna’s face. Maybe the coffee was good, but she wouldn’t return there again. It wasn’t worth having to face Danna.

As she walked to her apartment alone, she glanced down at the cup. In loopy handwriting, Danna had written:

332-111-1111

call if you decide to not be a total moron. xoxo, danna

Nova dug her nails into the cup. Goddamn Danna Bell and her stupid pity.

  
  



	2. took off faster than a green light, go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nova tightened her ponytail as she walked into Renegades Studio. She’d been here before, when she joined them for their production of _Paquita_ , but this was different. Now it was… it was supposed to be _hers_. Only a few days ago she would’ve rather died than be part of Renegades, but now… it seemed to be her only good option. As much as she hated to admit it, Danna was right.
> 
> Renegades was much fancier than Anarchy, a fact that made Nova’s blood boil. Hugh Everhart, of course, had been granted more money than he could spend in his lifetime for doing basically nothing. Back at Anarchy, they’d lived on gofundmes and selling butter braids. She’d danced in the dark to save money and picked up sewing to put together costumes from her parents’ closet.
> 
> “Hey!” The guy at the front desk waved her over. “You’re Nova Artino, right?”
> 
> The way he said _Artino_ made her want to leave this place and never come back. So it seemed that her reputation preceded her. “Yeah,” she said. “Sorry, am I— am I in the right place?” Stars, she absolutely _hated_ how insecure she sounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those that didn't see, chapter 1 has been edited! not much has changed, but i would still recommend you reread it or at least check the end notes of chapter 1 if you read the past version. thank you so much to nevada ([@honey-harper-offical](https://honey-harper-official.tumblr.com)) for helping me with a sentence of this i could not for the life of me figure out. also before you come at me for realism let me say that i'm literally a dancer but this is not realistic because i am 15 and decided to not care about realism and just make it as gay as possible. i don't know how much i actually like this chapter but if you don't like it the next chapter will probably be posted tomorrow (thank god for the lunarchroniclesnet and renegadesnet discord and writing sprints) and you might like that one better.

Nova tightened her ponytail as she walked into Renegades Studio. She’d been here before, when she joined them for their production of  _ Paquita _ , but this was different. Now it was… it was supposed to be  _ hers _ . Only a few days ago she would’ve rather died than be part of Renegades, but now… it seemed to be her only good option. As much as she hated to admit it, Danna was right.

Renegades was much fancier than Anarchy, a fact that made Nova’s blood boil. Hugh Everhart, of course, had been granted more money than he could spend in his lifetime for doing basically nothing. Back at Anarchy, they’d lived on gofundmes and selling butter braids. She’d danced in the dark to save money and picked up sewing to put together costumes from her parents’ closet.

“Hey!” The guy at the front desk waved her over. “You’re Nova Artino, right?”

The way he said  _ Artino _ made her want to leave this place and never come back. So it seemed that her reputation preceded her. “Yeah,” she said. “Sorry, am I— am I in the right place?” Stars, she absolutely  _ hated _ how insecure she sounded.

“Yeah, you’re good,” he said cheerfully. “I’m Sampson. I’m so glad you’re joining us. I mean, we can always use some new talent, and you’re just in time for  _ Romeo and Juliet _ . Giulietta. Whatever. After you worked with us on  _ Paquita _ we all wanted you to join us, you know? Well. Most of us. Adrian and Narcissa were all over you. Danna wasn’t, obviously. But we were like,  _ if only she wasn’t so attached to Anarchy _ . But now… well, we’re very happy to have you with us.” He gestured to a hallway, and Nova covered up her frown. “Second door on the left. Oscar’ll get you set up.”

On her way there, she almost ran into a boy with red hair. Stepping back, she gasped as she recognized him.  _ Winston _ . One of her colleagues from Anarchy, the one who had  _ immediately _ transferred to Renegades. Though to be fair, she couldn’t really use that as an argument against him anymore. But at least she’d had enough loyalty to only switch companies  _ after _ Anarchy had fallen apart. 

She ignored him and continued on her way, though Winston looked like he wanted to say something to her. Whatever. If she had any luck, she wouldn’t have to deal with him at all. 

Nova hesitantly stepped into the room. She recognized Danna immediately, who was sitting on one of the benches frowning at her. Next to her was Oscar Silva. She’d danced with him before, and he was one of the few dancers at Renegades that she actually didn’t hate. In contrast to Danna’s expression, he seemed glad to see her. A girl sat in the corner stretching, her red hair in a braid. Narcissa Cronin, of course. Nova had danced with her a few times, since her grandfather had been friends— well, her grandfather had known Alec. And, of course, in the center of the room next to Oscar, was the infamous Adrian Rawles-Everhart.

Adrian was the son of the even more famous and indomitable Georgia Rawles. If Nova could admire someone from Renegades, then… well. She had always quite liked Georgia Rawles. Of course, Georgia had died a few years ago, and Adrian had been adopted by Hugh Everhart and his husband, Simon Westwood. As much as she hated this company, perhaps she could acknowledge that someone good had come out of it. 

“Nova!” Oscar said enthusiastically. “We’re so glad you’re here! I’m Oscar. I absolutely loved your performance in  _ Swan Lake _ . Even Danna here was impressed, but she’ll never admit it.” He nudged Danna with his elbow. 

Danna shrugged. “I mean, your Odette was a bit weak, but it’s rather hard to represent perfection, isn’t it?”  _ And you would know _ were the hidden words behind it. “But I will admit that you were a good Odile.”

“Thanks,” Nova said frostily.

Narcissa sat up, rolling her eyes. “Be nice to the girl that  _ you _ brought here, Danna.” Turning to Nova, she smiled. “It’s good to see you again.”

Nova took her hand, feeling very much out of her depth. “Hi, Narcissa.”

“Welcome to the Renegades,” Adrian said. His eyes lit up when he smiled. “Oscar, weren’t you supposed to help her out?”

“Yeah,” Oscar said, standing up. “Come on.” He led Nova through the hallway, occasionally pointing out rooms (“Those are the locker rooms, that’s Tamaya’s office; never go in there without an invitation… That’s physical therapy, I literally owe them my life—”). When they came to the end of the hallway, he led her into a small room. “Here’s the room for pit. Be nice to them; they’re the best. Hey, Callum!”

A boy with dark hair waved. “Oh, you’re Nova, aren’t you?” He said, walking towards them. “This is great! We were all so excited about you joining us.”

“So I’ve heard,” Nova said. “Do you play an instrument?”

Callum smiled. “Yeah. French horn. It’s great. I love seeing what you guys are doing, but I could never. I stick to music. I’m the biggest music nerd ever. Anyway, I love playing pit in ballets because it’s so cool to see talented people coming together to create something beautiful, you know? Anyway. I think you’re going to love it here. Everyone’s great. Kasumi’s probably going to start trying out choreo today, right? I know you literally just got here, but you’ll actually probably get a fairly big role. You  _ are _ doing  _ Romeo and Juliet _ , right?”

Nova nodded. Clearly, this guy talked a lot. But he actually… didn’t seem so bad. She’d gone into Renegades thinking that everyone would be like Danna, but… they were actually pretty nice. Whatever. She still didn’t like them. 

Callum prattled on a little more about  _ Romeo and Juliet _ , then stopped abruptly. “Oh, sorry, I’m probably holding you up. When do you have rehearsal?”

Oscar glanced at the clock, clearly distracted. “We’ve got a little over an hour.”

Callum laughed. “Oh. So you just brought Nova here to talk to me, huh? No other reason?”

“What are you talking about?” Oscar started, but he was blushing.

“It wasn’t to maybe see a certain girl named after a gemstone?”

“What?” Oscar looked alarmed. “No. Why would you think that?”

Callum rolled his eyes fondly. “Hey, Ruby!” He called over to a girl sitting over by the clarinets. “You should meet Nova!”

The girl— Ruby— brightened and came over to them. “Oh my stars, hi! I’m Ruby. I play oboe. It’s so great to meet you.”

Nova smiled. Next to her, Oscar had a ridiculous look on his face as he looked at Ruby.  _ Straight people _ .

Someone called to Ruby from the other side of the room, and she smiled apologetically. “Sorry. I’ve got to go. But hopefully I’ll see you around, Nova! We should hang out sometime.”

Rehearsal began at 11:40, and Nova was ready seven minutes before. In Anarchy, she would’ve been ready sooner, but it wasn’t bad for her first day, especially with Oscar dragging her around the entire building. To her annoyance, she saw that Danna had gotten to the room before her, and she was  _ texting _ . Maybe it was because Alec had drilled it into her that she should always be the first one ready and that she should never be on her phone before rehearsal, but it bothered her. Probably more than it should have. 

Kasumi Hasegawa, the choreographer, greeted Nova very enthusiastically. Nova liked Kasumi. When Nova had worked with Kasumi before, she’d always been kind, and Nova had to admit that Kasumi was talented. Perhaps there  _ were _ some good people at Renegades. Some. 

As the other dancers spilled into the room, Nova glanced around, searching for people she recognized, as well as familiarizing herself with the room. She had to admit that it was much better equipped than Anarchy had been. Most of the dancers were people she’d seen before, either in person or in articles. She had kept very up to date with everything happening in the dance world with Ingrid, sizing up their opponents. Not that these opponents could really be that much of a threat.

Danna flashed her a cool smile as they began.

Kasumi led them through some choreography. Nova wasn’t a stranger to auditions like this— not strictly  _ auditions _ , but there was no doubt that some casting would result from this. Of course, at Anarchy, she’d never had much reason to worry. While Alec and whatever choreographer he was working with would never favor her unfairly over the other dancers, she’d known Alec. She’d known the studio, what every single dancer’s weak points were, and she’d probably have known some of the choreography already.

This was completely out of her depth. Dance had been the  _ one _ thing she was good at, the one good thing in her  _ life _ , but now— 

She’d just been thrown into an ocean. And now, with no land in sight, she would have to swim back to shore.

It would be fine. She might not have any of her regular advantages, but she was still Nova Artino. Talent didn’t just vanish under new circumstances, and she was full of talent.

She studied Kasumi’s actions carefully, considering how she should perform them herself. Nova wasn’t a stranger to this ballet, of course— while  _ she _ had never been in it, her parents had taken her to it when she was young, and she’d also seen one of Anarchy’s productions of it when she was still in high school. And, of course, it was one of the most well-known ballets. Of course she knew it. It seemed that it was mostly the MacMillan choreography, with a couple changes— that made sense; it was what most productions used, and it had lasted this long for a reason…

Ugh. Nova wished that she’d researched this more. Of course, she’d had very little time and wasn’t sure if Renegades had already begun thinking about casting, but that had never stopped her before. She was usually much more on top of things. Perhaps Alec’s death had affected her more than she’d thought.

Nova followed Kasumi’s choreography, beginning to settle into the familiar rhythm of learning choreography. It was part of Juliet’s introduction as a young girl, she recognized. She soon realized that there were  _ many _ good dancers in the room. But she was still Nova Artino, and she wasn’t exactly a newcomer. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to snag a lead just beginning at a new company, but she thought that she’d get a good role even so. Narcissa was a very good dancer, but Nova wasn’t sure that she’d be fit for Juliet. There was another dancer that might pose a challenge— Nova thought her name started with a G? But the girl was all stiff and cold, all harsh edges. Skilled, but perhaps not for a part that was based on youthfulness. When the dancer noticed her watching, she gave Nova a frosty glare, fixing her blonde ponytail.

And, of course, there was Danna. She was probably Nova’s biggest competition. She was a bit tall for female leads, but that hadn’t stopped Bell before. Of course, Nova thought the traditional heights for ballerinas were nothing but an inconvenience, but whatever would work in her favor. She’d had some trouble with that, too, at the minimum height that was considered acceptable. 

But Danna was a good dancer, and she mastered the movements quickly. As the newly-made principal dancer of Renegades, she was bound to get the lead, probably for either opening or closing night. Danna was graceful, embodying the youthfulness and cleverness of Juliet’s character easily. But Nova could be graceful, too, and if there was one thing she’d learned at Anarchy, it was acting.

Nova met Danna’s eyes as they began the sequence again, a challenge glinting in her eyes. Danna stiffened, then smirked. 

This was going to be fun.

Nova fixed a smile on her face, lifting herself up despite her tiredness. She was going to nail this. It wasn’t that different from all the other times. And it would be great to wipe that smug smile off of Danna’s face. 

As they started the combination, Nova felt herself slip into the role. Fine. Youthfulness, cleverness, and the joys of childhood? Something she could easily achieve. She caught a look at Danna in the mirror, who, to her disappointment, was doing very well. But she was Nova Artino, and she hadn’t danced for over twenty years for nothing. Years spent honing her technique, first under her parents’ watchful eyes and at her local dance studio, and then at Anarchy. Bell might be a good dancer, but Nova was a supernova. Not even Danna Bell’s energy could match that.

She could hear Honey reminding her to keep her smile fixed and at ease in her head as she danced. Nova avoided slipping narrowly, cursing the Renegades’ floor. That would take a bit of getting used to, but it wasn’t anything a bit of rosin couldn’t fix. She could see Narcissa’s slight wince as she fell out of her turn. Nova brightened her smile and made eye contact with her. Alec would’ve told her to ignore Narcissa. Anarchy didn’t care about morals when careers were on the line. But she wasn’t Alec, and she wasn’t at Anarchy anymore. Narcissa had been nice to her that morning, and she could use an ally. Even one that was friends with Danna Bell. 

Nova held her final pose with a pained expression on her face. Maybe childhood happiness wasn’t something she was that familiar with, but the pains of growing up sure were. At least there was that.

The music slipped away, and she relaxed as Kasumi stopped them, glancing at the clock. She’d forgotten how good it felt to learn new choreography. It had gone faster than she’d thought. 

She glanced at Danna, annoyed to see that she seemed to be pleased. Whatever. Nova thought she herself had performed very well, and she was bound to be on for Juliet one of the nights. Hopefully. At least for Rosaline, for sure. 

The pale blonde had a small smile on her face, as if she was daring Nova to try to compete. Ridiculous. Nova had more talent than that girl could hope to achieve in a lifetime. And that girl wouldn’t get anywhere by being so snooty.

Okay, to be fair, Nova had been snooty many, many times in her lifetime. But it was deserved, and she wasn’t  _ that _ much of a bitch. 

Kasumi beamed at them. “This is wonderful,” she said. “We have so much talent this year. Every year, of course, but you were all excellent. We’ll try some more choreography from later in the ballet.”

Nova exhaled, afraid to hope for anything. It was too early to tell, really, and as much as she insulted the Renegades, there really were some talented dancers there that had been there for longer and had actually prepared for this. But she really wanted it. She was terrified to want it.

“Oh, and Nova?” Kasumi asked as the music started up again. “You’re doing really well.”

Nova tried to suppress her smile, failing miserably. “Thank you.” Maybe it wasn’t  _ too _ early to hope. 

**Author's Note:**

> anyway, edited from when it was posted last. if you've read it before, basically all that changes is stuff with nova's family--- they didn't die until she was 16, and she started dance when she was 3. she's 24 now. i would still recommend rereading it if you already have, but that's the gist of the edits.


End file.
